Lifesaving suit



May is; me

C. DYBEER G 2,34%3

LIFE-SAVING SUIT FiIed Dec. 13, 1940 Ipye/P ZL a (a?! Qv/fsuy Patented May 16, 1944 LIFESAVING SUIT Carl Dybberg, Bygdoy, Aker, Norway; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application December 13, 1940, Serial No. 370,077 In Norway December 27, 1939 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to waterproof life-saving suits, adapted to be drawn on outside the usual clothes, and has mainly for its object to provide a life-saving suit, which is simple. and effective and easily can be taken on and off.

The main characteristic feature of the invention is, that the waterproof cloth of the suit, consisting for instance of gutta-percha, caoutchouc tissue, impregnated poplin or the like, is thin and flexible in such a degreathat the suit does not prevent ones movements worth mentioning, for the purpose that the suit also may be used as a working dress as well as a life-saving suit. Further features of the invention will appear from the following description of an embodiment of the'device.

In order to describe clearly my invention I will refer tothe accompanying diagrammatical drawing, wherein- Figure 1 shows the suit rolled down before the drawing on and at. a somewhat larger scale than the remaining figures.

Figure 2 shows a side view of the suit after the drawing on but before the closing of the top opening, and

Figure 3 shows the same after the closing and in the position assumed when the wearer is up-right in the water.

Figure 4 shows a front view of the suit after the closing.

- Figures 5 and 6 illustrate a manner of making a wristband.

Figure '7 shows another construction of the wristband.

The suit consists of waterproof cloth, which is thin and flexible in such a' degree, that the suit does not prevent ones movements worth mentioning. According to the invention the suit therefore is fit for use as a working dress as well as'a life-saving suit. When a ship is travelling through a danger zone the crewas well as the passengers may have the suit on all the time, the suit not causing any drawbacks during the work or other occupation; The thin and flexible cloth also has the advantage, that the suit can be drawn on'as quickly and easily as ordinary clothes. The cloth may consist of gutta-percha, caoutchouc tissue, impregnated poplin or the like, the thickness of which preferably being below 1 mm. The suit eventually may be impregnated after being sewedtogether.

The suit consists of a wide, bag-shaped part I made in one piece with the trousers 2. .The trousers either may be closed at the lower ends and provided with widenings for the feet or they may be tightly attached to rubber-boots 3 or galoshes as shown on the drawing. In order to prevent the feet from floating to the surface when the user of the life-saving suit is lying in the water, the soles 4 of the boots may be heavy, for instance consisting of lead or the like, or leaden insoles may be used. Each side of the bag I are provided with raglan sleeves 5 attached by means of the seams I5. These sleeves may be provided with watertight wristbands as described below.

The suit is sewed together in a very simple manner, the suit only being provided with one seam hi on the adjacent sides of the pair of trousers, one seam I3 on the front side from the fork up to the chin and eventually a seam on the back side from the fork to the top of the suit. The latter, however, may be dispensed with if the cloth has a sufficiently great breadth. The seams may be covered by rubber bands or the like. The parts of the suit eventually also may be pasted together.

Apart from the sleeves the suit is quite closed except at the top of the-bag I, which is provided with a wide neck opening (9 as shown in Figure 2. Through this opening the user steps in when the suit is to be drawn on. The suit has such a width, that it when not in use may be rolled down and placed on the outside of the boots 3 as shown in Figure 1. In this position the suit quickly and easily may be drawn on, the user putting the feet into the boots and then drawing the suit upwards to the position shown in Figure 2. As shown the suit may be providedwith a hood 6 attached to the back part of the edge of the opening 19. The hood may be sewed or pasted to the suit or may also be made in one piece with the suit.

The edge of the front part of the opening l9 situated in front of the hood is provided with holes'or eyes 'l' placed at suitable distances from each other andsomewhat below the edge of the neck opening. A draw-string G is provided going through said eyes, the ends of the draw-string hanging down on the front side of the suit, while the middlepart t! of the string is running along the back side of the hood ii and being guided in one or'more loops 9 or the like attached to the hood. The edge 20 of the hood may be provided with a tightening elastic band adapted to press the hood edge watertight against the head. Such an elastic band, however, is not necessary.

When the suit is drawn on as shown in Figure 2 the opening 19 is closed by pulling the ends of the draw-string 8, the opening thereby being contracted round the neck as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The edge of the opening 19 thereby is forming folds or corrugations 2|, which owing to the pull in the draw-string is pressed against each other and against the neck at the same time as the edge 20 of the hood is pressed against the head. Practical tests have proved, that by this device a watertight closing of the suit is obtained. When the suit is closed the draw-string is secured by means of a knot Or an automatical locking device attached to the string. If desired, the draw-string may be placed in eye along the edge 20 of the hood instead of running on the-back side of the hood.

The hood if desired may be dispensed with. In this case the eyes and draw-string are placed along the entire length of the edge of the opening 19, which is being contracted by pulling the string.

The suit is made relatively wide, thereby in closed position containing a quantity of air causing a sufficient buoyancy. The air contained in the suit not only causes buoyancy but additionally assists in effecting a seal at the neck opening. Evidently, air trapped within the suit will rise to the top of it causing substantial bulging in a plane at and above the shoulders of the wearer; note the excess of material at the top of the suit as illustrated in Figure 2. This slack material is forced under air pressure against the neck and lower portions of the head of the wearer in a zone above the edge of the opening l9, thus effecting a wide area seal to prevent water from entering the suit. It will be recognized that the draw-string cannot be drawn too tightly against the neck of the wearer without causing injury so that a wide area seal is preferable to increased sealing pressure confined to a small area. The air pressure acting on the ballooning upper portion of the suit effects this and very materially assists the action of the draw-string in keeping the wearer dry. In this connection, see Figure 3 in which the garment is illustrated in its operative position, i. e., with the wearer upright in the water and the air pressure efiecting the neck seal in a zone above the edge of opening l9. It is important that the suit may be contracted round the Waist and therefore it is provided a Waistbelt H] attached to the suit at one or more points or slidably mounted in loops or the like attached to the suit. The suit also may be provided with a strong belt or reinforcement ll placed outside or inside the suit just below the sleeves. To this belt, which may have a relative great breadth, is secured a strong strap or the like provided with a suitable hook l2, by means of which it is possible to hook oneself to a life-raft or the like or to other shipwrecked persons. The belt I! if desired may be provided with more straps or the like or other life-saving devices.

The suit also may be provided with shoulderstraps or the like, but this has proved unnecessary.

If desired, the suit may be provided with one or more floaters for instance filled with kapok, reindeers hair or other suitable material. As floaters also rubber cushions or tubes may be used, which may be filled with air. The floaters may have a relative small thickness and a great area and may be permanently secured to the outer or inner side of the suit. The floaters also may consist for instance of rubber cushions filled with kapok or the like.

These cushions are placed in pockets l2 inside or outside the suit when the suit is to be used for life-saving. When the suit is used as a working dress the cushions may be removed.

The pockets l2, which may be placed anywhere on the suit in a suitable number and may have any suitable shapes and dimensions, also may be used for keeping small quantities of food, a knife, an electrical pocket lantern, a Whistle, a compass, fire-works and other equipments.

A floater shaped as a tube filled with kapok or air also may be used, said tube being placed round the body. When the user of the suit while at work Wants to have the upper part of the body free, the suit may be rolled down about said tube for instance to the Waist. The suit in this case so to say looks like rubber trousers or wading trousers, and the suit very quickly can be rolled upwards and used as a life-saving suit when it is necessary to jump in the water. The floater tube, however, is not shown on the drawing.

Instead of the floater being combined with the suit, of course a life belt or a life-saving jacket already at hand may be used outside or inside the suit.

As above mentioned the sleeves of the suit at the wrists may be provided with elastical wristbands fitting water-tightly round the wrists. Such a Wristband may consist of an elastic rubber strip of a suitable breadth sewn or pasted to the sleeve wrist. According to Figures 5 and 6 the wristbands may be produced in that manner, that the sleeve is reversed (Figure 5) and the sleeve wrist I6 is drawn over a mould l9, Which for instance may be cylindrical. Then the elastic band I! is pasted to the sleeve after being somewhat stretched, the band being suitably placed in such a position, that the band edge projects somewhat outside the sleeve edge. When the elastic band is attached the mould I9 is removed, whereby the band and consequently also the sleeve opening is being contracted somewhat, Then the sleeve again is reversed (Figure 6), and it will be seen, that the outer side of the sleeve wrist owing to the said contraction in being folded as indicated by l8, the folds making an expansion of the sleeve wrist possible when the hand is forced through the sleeve opening.

As shown in Figure '7 a watertight closing of the sleeve opening also may be obtained by attaching a thin, flexible and elastic caoutchouc tissue 22 to the edge of the sleeve opening. The caoutchouc tissue is provided with a central hole 23, through which the hand is forced when the suit is being drawn on, the diameter of the hole being somewhat smaller than that of the wrist.

In order to obtain an absolute watertight closing of the sleeve an additional inner sleeve 24 may be provided, the opening of which being closed by a flexible and elastic watertight tissue 25 with a central hole 26 for the arm. As shown the tissues 22 and 25 are situated at some distance from each other.

If desired, detachable mittens or gloves provided with an elastic wrist edge may be used in combination with the suit. The mittens or gloves eventually may be permanently secured to the suit.

The diflerent details of the suit, however, may be varied in different manners. If desired, for instance eyes and draw-string may be dispensed with, and in this case the closing of the suit is obtained thereby, that the edge of the upper opening is placed round the head and the neck and is secured by means of hooks, bands or the like. In order to secure a watertight closing the edge of the opening may be provided with an elastic band. If closing of the suit by means of a sliding lock is desired, a tab of elastic or non-elastic material must be provided behind the sliding lock. The tab must have a breadth sufficient to allow the bag I to expand to its normal width.

Tests have proved, that it is possible to a person to eat when lying in the water. To obtain this the upper opening must be contracted tight- 1y close behind the nose, so that the mouth is situated below the edge of the opening. When the person is going to eat one or both arms are drawn out of the sleeve or sleeves respectively, the sleeve opening being closed by a plug or a clip. Then it is possible to put the hand and hands respectively in the pockets of the clothes inside the suit or in the inner pockets of the suit.

It is also stated, that when the suit as described is used it is possible to keep the body warm during along time even if the shipwrecked person is lying in icy-cold water.

I Wish it to be understood, that many different embodiments of my above described device are possible without departing from the scope of my invention as defined by the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A life saving suit, including a body covering garment, weighted foot coverings sealed at one end of the garment, the opposite end of the garment being formed with an opening of sulficient size to permit the garment to be readily applied to the person, means for closing the edges of the opening about the neck of the wearer, the material of the upper portion of the garment being sufficiently loose to cause the air trapped in the garment to distend the loose portion above and around the neck portion of the garment and provide a zone of substantial sealing contact with the person of the wearer above the opening closing means.

2. A life saving suit comprised of a pair of waterproof boots having self-supporting leg portions extending upwardly substantially to the knee of the wearer, a body envelope of thin flexible waterproof material including bifurcated nether port-ions permanently attached to the top of the boots in a water-tight manner and a large bag-like upper portion, said envelope having a neck opening at the top thereof to permit entry therein and of a size to permit the envelope to be folded down over the boot tops for easy donning, and means for drawing the defining edges of said opening about the neck of the wearer comprising a draw-string extending around and spaced below the neck opening through regularly spaced loops which permit the material to be gathered in regular folds about the neck of the wearer, whereby the large baglik upper portion of the suit acts as an air trap to cause distension thereof above and around the neck opening of the garment to provide sealing contact with the person of the wearer above the opening.

CARL DYBBERG. 

